IAEA to arrive in Japan to aid in Fukushima cleanup

Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency will arrive in Japan next week to follow up decommissioning efforts at the embattled Fukushima plant.

The IAEA said its nuclear experts will review government measures and ensure no new leaks would occur at the stricken plant as workers began the hazardous task of removing fuel rods from a damaged reactor building.

“The IAEA will assess the plan and, in particular, efforts to manage contaminated water at the accident site and remove fuel assemblies from the Spent Fuel Pool in Reactor Unit 4,” the Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog said.

Tokyo has drawn up a long-term roadmap towards decommissioning the embattled Fukushima plant in the wake of the nuclear crisis in 2011.

Tokyo Electric Power Co started the risky process of removing the assemblies, which will be transferred into a more secure storage pool with a cooling system.

The whole removal process is a necessary step towards decommissioning the plant, which is expected to take decades.

Several teams of IAEA experts, including marine experts, have travelled to Japan in recent months amid reports that radioactive water from the damaged plant was still seeping into the ocean.